Unforgiving Enemies
by keepcalmandwrite
Summary: What will happen to the Avengers when their previous enemies capture them? They will be tortured brutally until they give in or die, whichever comes first. To even survive they need to be a team and look out for each other, but how do you look out for someone else when you need to look out for yourself? Team whump! Violence and swearing.
1. Chapter 1

**Let me know if I should continue, it isn't just going to be Steve it's the whole team too. **

Steve opened his eyes carefully, at first all he could see was dark and inky black shapes that danced in front of him. He blinked slowly and eventually he adjusted to the lack of light, he sat up and heard his back crack three times. He knew something was wrong and realised he shouldn't have sat up, rule number one; if you don't know where you are, pretend to be unconscious until you get your bearings and figure it out. Too late for that though so instead, he tensed and tried to jump to his feet in a fighting pose, it didn't work.

His knees buckled and they hit the flood with a thud, it echoed around the room. He glanced up again, the murky yellow walls were crumbling but he had no doubt if you hit one you would easily break your fist, the floor was a dark grey and made the room disorientating. There were no windows and the only light was coming from a single hanging light bulb, very cliché. The door was made of a re-enforced metal by the look of it, but Steve had never been good at things like that, but he could just ask Tony…Tony. Then the memories hit the soldier, he reeled back as they slammed into him at full force.

_Flashback _

_The Avengers were on the way back from a mission in Cuba, they were all on board a S.H.I.E.L.D jet despite the fact that Tony and Thor could have flown back quicker, Fury called in 'team bonding' Tony called it 'time wasting.' He didn't really mind though, none of them did because they did have quite a good time, when they weren't arguing. _

"_So that went fairly well didn't it?" Bruce said pouring himself a cup of water, Natasha held out her hand and winked from her seat, he rolled his eyes and passed her the cup whilst getting himself another. _

"_Yeah, but I don't think Stark's constant commentary is very helpful." Clint muttered from his position on the floor. Thor laughed his deep booming laugh; Steve noticed it shook the table. No, it wasn't Thor's laugh the whole jet was shaking. Natasha jumped up and went over to the window, everyone watched her to see her reaction. She snatched her gun up and peered out the glass, _

"_Shit! Get dow-"she didn't have time to finish before the whole jet tipped vertically. The chairs and table went crashing against the right wall, the wall Thor and Steve were leaning against, they both rolled out the way and hit into opposite sides. Steve managed to crawl into a corner he looked back out towards his team; Clint was hanging on to a handle, trying not to follow the table and chairs down the jet, but gravity was fighting him. Tony was awkwardly positioned in between two chairs, his wrist was pinned and he was desperately trying to tug free. Bruce was trapped beneath a table but seemed ok; he had his eyes shut and was deeply breathing. Natasha was in the same position as Clint but if she fell she would land directly on Thor and probably kick him in the face. None of them were yelling but there was a high pitched screaming coming from outside the jet, it was still again. _

"_What the hell is going on?" Tony shouted above the noise, Natasha swung her leg up and hooked her feet around Clint's bar, he held onto one of her ankles and she let go, she was now hanging upside down with one foot and still facing Thor. She unhooked her free ankle and bent it down wards so she looked like she was doing vertical splits, she kicked something hard and the men heard a whirring lock. She looked towards Steve and nodded at him; Clint grabbed her leg and pulled her back up next to him. _

_Steve knew it was his turn, he reached out and held onto a piece of metal lodged in the floor, it was still eerily silent outside, apart from the screaming noise. He watched as his veins protruded out from his skin and he pulled himself up, he stretched out his left hand and delved into the compartment Natasha had opened, inside was a parachute…one parachute, there were six people. He managed to turn and rest his foot on a chair; he faced his friends and held it out. _

"_So, who gets it? I'm going to be first to say I'm not." Steve announced, his eyes were determined as he realised this was not going to end well, immediately there were shouts of protests and arguments about who should get the parachute. _

"_No, stop it!" Natasha commanded they all turned to face her, _

"_Little Red's right, she should go." Tony said, despite his hard ass attitude, he cared about these people. The other men agreed but Natasha grunted as her hand slipped slightly and shook her head, Clint was struggling to. _

"_Steve you need to go, you need to take it. Trust me, if anyone needs to get out of this fight it's you, please don't argue, you don't have time. You need to go and it needs to be you." Her voice didn't leave any room for questioning; Steve was silent for a minute. _

"_What's going on?" he shouted, the tension had hit him again. This time Natasha's voice was soft but an undercurrent of strain from holding on, _

"_Steve…it's-" Again she hadn't had time to finish before the top part of the jet exploded and the cold air gushed in, the tables and chairs flew around and one hit Clint in the face it knocked him down and his limp body was pulled out the gap. Natasha stretched her arm and tried to hold on to him, he weighed too much and she couldn't and both agents went spiralling towards the open sky. Thor was first to react he pushed away from the wall and slammed into Natasha's side, trying to pin them back into the jet. It would have worked if bullets hadn't suddenly rained all around them. Steve felt small pricks all over his torso, he looked down expecting to see a torn and bloody chest, but instead he saw little pins sticking out of his uniform, they were sleeping bullets, not real. _

_Nonetheless he felt the exhaustion take over, if they were strong enough to knock out a super soldier and a demi-god, Steve knew they were dealing with people, or possibly not people that were much more skilled, much more prepared and much more lethal. Just as his eyes shut Steve saw Natasha pointing at the parachute, she was yelling something at him, but she was moving in slow motion. _

_The black took over as a searing pain shot across his chest and a bright light filled his vision. _

_End of Flashback _

Panic seized Steve, what had Natasha been trying to tell him? Who had managed to attack six superheroes? But most importantly, where were the others? Just as this final question flooded his mind the metal door slammed open, Steve stumbled to his feet and used the dirty wall for balance, as soon as Steve saw him his whole heart clenched in fear. His blood pounding and white appeared at the edge of his vision.

"Hello Captain, did you miss me?" 

**Continue…?**


	2. Chapter 2

**This is mainly Natasha; two necessary notes please read they are important for the story: **

**The poll on my profile will determine the pairing in this fic so vote and I will put that in, it will be closed by the time I post the next chapter though so do it quick **

**Also this is imperative to understand this chapter; Ivan Petrovitch was chief of the Red Room that was run by a group called KGB and organisation that took Natasha in and trained her to be an assassin. The rest of her past will be explained throughout the story. Although this isn't factually right just go with it ;) **

**Enjoy and as always Review I really do appreciate them and thanks to everyone who did last time I will update quicker if you do and…FINALLY I'm sorry about the long authors not lol. **

Perhaps it was because she was used to it, used to waking up in different situations she wasn't prepared for, or maybe it was because she wasn't frightened easily but Natasha did not react when she came into consciousness. She didn't open her eyes or move her limbs, instead she remained perfectly still, fully aware of the sound of heavy breathing next her. From the depth and speed of the inhalation Natasha could tell that this person, no this man, was worried. Worried about what Natasha couldn't know, not until she opened her eyes and seeing as she didn't have much choice she followed her instincts and sat up.

"Thor she's awake" Natasha recognised the voice immediately, it was none other than her billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, genius (in his opinion) friend Tony Stark. Natasha's vision blurred as her head went light, she nearly fell back down but Tony caught her and rested her slowly back but not onto the floor, onto a waiting chest, Thor's chest.

"Where the hell are we?" Natasha asked, her voice showed no sign of panic but she glanced around the room cautiously. She looked up as Thor and Tony exchanged glances,

"We don't know" Tony admitted. "But we were hoping that you could tell us who you saw through the window back on the jet" Natasha's eyes widened as she remembered.

"Shit guys!" she jumped up and completely ignored the tingling pain in her leg, both the men reacted to her sudden movement and followed to stand up, she ignored them as she began to pace. "Steve, Steve's in serious danger" Thor looked at her, his muscles rippled as he held out a placating arm,

"Why is the Captain particularly in danger" he asked, his loud voice bounced off the walls and made the bleak, dark room feel slightly more full.

"Because it was the Red Skull, that's who I saw" she watched as Tony's face crossed with at first disbelief, then worry, then a 'we're so screwed' expression. Thor just stared at her not understanding.

"The Red Skull has a particular hatred for Captain America; they've been enemies since they first met back in the Second World War. He will do anything for revenge on Steve" Natasha explained while she paced a bit more.

"Quite right Natalia" came a voice from the doorway. While explaining the situation to Thor, Natasha had failed to realise the heavy but silent door being pushed open and the one man she would rather die than see again step inside.

Ivan Petrovitch, her surrogate 'father.'

"The Red Skull is here for Captain America, but I am here for you" Tony and Thor watched in shook as Natasha's eyes hardened but her shoulder slumped, as if she already knew she couldn't win. Ivan was a large man, his presence demanded attention and he gave off a harsh, unforgiving vibe. "Do not worry though, you will each have your own problems to deal with soon enough" he said coldly glancing at Tony and Thor, a thick Russian accent smothered his words but Natasha could understand it easily.

She had grown up with it.

"I thought you gave up on the Red Room, I thought you died when the organisation did" Natasha replied, Thor was once again amazed by her bravery, she reminded him dearly of Sif, his fellow Asgardian warrior.

"Oh Natalia, the Red Room ended after you escaped but KGB still remains and it does not care for traitors" his voice was angry but controlled, he took a small step forward, Natasha mirrored him but Thor and Tony moved in front of her.

"We won't let you take her" Tony said, his voice was filled with arrogance and his posture was cocky. Thor stood with his arms crossed like a bodyguard, a large bodyguard.

"Наталья, расскажите своим друзьям уйти в отставку или я, не колеблясь, чтобы иметь их пыткам. Согласитесь со мной, или они будут страдать от последствий, ваше драгоценное солдат тоже." **(Natalia, tell your friends to stand down or I will not hesitate to have them tortured. Agree to come with me or they will suffer the consequences, your precious soldier too.)** Ivan stared at Natasha but to her credit she remained stoic and proud.

"Guys leave it, we have a few things we need to catch up on anyway" she said softly, Natasha was a trained liar, a trained manipulator and actress, she could fool people into believing whatever she wanted and her ability hadn't failed her then.

"Are you sure Natasha?" Tony asked carefully, he turned around to face her. It was then that Natasha felt the powerful urge to stay and try and protect him, Tony wasn't trained like she was, in normal circumstances turning away from the enemy, like he had just done, would get you killed, a bullet through the back of your skull. Tony wasn't trained for this; to be honest she didn't think Thor was either, their ignorance would kill them.

"I'm sure Tony. Thor stand down" she nodded at them and walked towards Ivan; she kept her head high and tried not to betray her real emotions. Five armed guards stood outside the door, they had three of their guns pointed to her and two on Thor and Tony so she couldn't fight her way out without putting them in serious danger. As Ivan followed her out he turned back to the two remaining Avengers, a cruel smirk stuck on his face.

"I hope you said goodbye, you will never see Natalia alive again and if you do it will only be to watch her writhe and scream in pain. You just sentenced her to her death, women are very good liars are they not? Do not worry just for her though; perhaps you will both be killed before her anyway. Enjoy." He slammed the door as the two men lunged for him, he turned back to face the petite woman, she scowled angrily.

"You didn't have to tell them that, they didn't need to know" she accused but didn't raise her voice; she didn't want her friends to hear.

"Oh but it adds to the fun. Natalia, me and you are going to have so much fun, who knows maybe I won't even kill you after your torture. Maybe you can become a KGB agent again" he smiled widely and showed yellow rotting teeth.

"I would rather die" she retorted through gritted teeth, he slapped her harshly but she hardly felt the stinging pain.

"That too, can be arranged"

**Ok sorry that was short but they will get longer. Review and I promise to update very soon if not it could be a while…take care xx**

**Thank you to: ClintNumberOne, kimbee, dragonborn360, Kaz Wagner, KayTheCap, 26wolfhawke and Guest for reviewing it means a lot xx**


	3. Chapter 3

**I know this seems like a boring chapter but I read it because it is important. Time for some Clint and Bruce! **

**This is going to be Steve/Natasha because it got the most votes on my poll but if you really disagree then send me a PM and I will base it on how many I get. **

**Please review, I don't know if this is very good and I would like some feedback. Thank you all who reviewed, so that's, kimbee, 26wolfhawke, saoirsebarrett15 and SiriusBlacklover14 for the last chapter xx**

Clint was aware of someone screaming, it was a horrible, gut-wrenching scream. Pure pain filled the owners voice, Clint refused to open his eyes and put the sound to a body. He was fully aware of the two men standing over him, they were laughing at him. How pathetic he was. Clint kept the mantra going in his head though, don't open your eyes, don't open your eyes, if you see the people it means they're real, ignore them until they go away. He had learnt this from his years back in the orphanage after his parents had died in a car crash, leaving him and his older brother, Barney, orphans.

Clint's past was murky and dark; he had done bad things to bad people, and good people, in fact any person. As long as he got paid he thought it was ok, but that was before Phil Coulson on behalf of Shield recruited him, effectively saving his life. After Clint's parents had been killed in the car accident, Barney and himself had been moved to Stairwells Home for Orphaned Children, it was anything but a home. The other children there were cruel and bullied Clint; eventually Barney and him ran away and joined a circus. Carson Carnival of Traveling Wonders, he met many people there and although life was hard he enjoyed it.

That was the place Clint discovered archery, he was mentored by Swordsman and Trickshot, two already existing key members of the Circus, until he walked in on them counting the money they stole from the carnival. So then they decided they could trust him and recruited him to join their team and he started doing worse and worse things for them until he murdered innocent people for them. Clint decided to pull out when he came to his senses and realised what he was doing was unjust, however, Trickshot and Swordsman said he knew too much, they ordered Barney to kill him. That was the day Clint's whole life was twisted into an unrecognisable shape, Barney stabbed him and left him to bleed out in an alley by himself, thankfully Phil appeared and fixed him up. Clint never saw his brother again, or his old mentors but he knew if he did he wouldn't last long.

"Why don't you open your pretty little eyes, Hawk boy?" the voice above Clint asked, it was a sickly sweet tone and Clint tried to ignore him. The screaming began again and Clint shuddered against it, then the laughing started, the voice was deep…recognisable, shit.

"Now, now don't tease him too much, we still have plenty planned and we don't want to ruin it all yet." the voice said calmly, Clint didn't need to open his eyes he knew who they were, of course two of the three people he couldn't bear to see again.

"Open your eyes now boy!" the lighter voice ordered, Clint cracked open his left eye first, the same stocky built man, yellow rotting teeth and balding head, Swordsman. Clint opened his right eye, and stared at the taller more lean man; he had a crooked eye and a scar running down his face, Trickshot. "That's it now, don't worry you're back with family." he cooed, Clint was aware of the tortured screams again.

Then he realised they were his own.

**Bruce: **

Waking up in a strange cold place was one of Bruce's worst nightmares. He had no training for situations like that and no real defence, well, his only defence was the other guy but he was more of an attack. However, Bruce knew that being a part of the Avengers meant putting yourself at risk for situations like that he only hoped they would never happen, sadly though that was just hoping and wishing.

He looked around the cold sterile room, he half hoped he would spot another Avenger, one of his friends, he didn't. He was alone and his pulse was starting to get faster. His fingers twitched as he tried to do deep breathing, he felt the throbbing pain in his temple return, he could hear the roar of blood in his veins, the other guy wanted out and Bruce almost wanted him to come out. Just as he was about to lose control a rough voice pierced the silence.

"Ah, ah. I don't think you want to do that Mr Banner." Bruce recognised the voice immediately, his whole body reacted to it, he instinctively tensed and he felt the other guy growl from within. He curled his hands into fists and tried to sit up from the cold sterile table he was tied to. "Please calm down, maybe this will help." the man said, he picked up a reinforced electronic tablet and held it over Bruce's vision.

The screen was spilt into four; in the first was Clint, the second Natasha, the third, Steve and the last Tony and Thor. Clint was talking to two men, well, they were talking to him and he seemed scared, something Bruce had never seen on him before. Steve was at with his head in his hands and shaking his head, Natasha was alone and in the corner of her room she had rested her head against the wall and Bruce swore he could see tear tracks on her face. Tony and Thor were banging on the walls and door in their room, they were shouting but Bruce couldn't hear what. His stomach dropped as the realisation hit him.

"That's right Mr Banner. If you become the Hulk it will immediately kill all your friends. The rooms they are currently situated in are supported by the foundation we are residing in, if you become the hulk it will cause the building to collapse, it will kill them all instantly. So think about that." Bruce desperately tried to regain control over his anger, he felt the red tinged with green leak into his vision, he blinked his eyes rapidly and arched his back when a spasm of pain shot through his spine. He had to keep calm, for his friends.

"I can't!" he yelled as more pain coursed through him, the man smiled cruelly.

"We have created an antidote that will help you contain your anger. It is only a prototype but will do for now, soon the real testing can begin." Bruce welcomed the prick he felt into his neck, he didn't want to be tested on but if it meant keeping his friends alive he would allow it. His eyes began to drop shut as he watched the man leave the room.

He watched General Ross leave the room.

…**.Was it bad? Reviews mean so much to me, so please leave one…I'm begging :D **


	4. Chapter 4

**Ok so Tony gets a little intense here, some swearing and very very minor self-harm. **

_IMPORTANT! _**I know how short this chap is but there is a reason. I wanna do a Natasha chapter but I can't until I figure out the pairing and I forgot to take the poll down so you sneaky readers voted for Clint/Natasha even though Steve/Natasha won. So please leave a review and I will decide based off that, you don't even have to say anything about the story just please tell me the pairing you want. That is why this chapter is so short and I do apologise for it, they will get longer I promise. **

"This is so fucked up!" Tony yelled as he slammed his fist into the door again, Thor pulled him back further into the room,

"It will do us no good to injure ourselves." The god said quietly, Tony angrily snatched his hand back and began pacing the floor. Memories flooded his mind, painful, painful memories, his time in Afghanistan, the torture, the heat…Yinsen. Yinsen was the man that had saved Tony's life by building a reactor in his chest to block the shrapnel trying to creep its way into the billionaire's heart. He had helped Tony build the first Iron Man suit and in return Tony had, well actually Yinsen died in the escape and Tony had not been able to do anything to save him. It had always been Tony's biggest regret, well maybe until now.

Because this was his fault, it was his fault that Thor and him were locked in this room, his fault that Natasha had been dragged away by clearly a very violent man, his fault that Bruce, Steve and Clint were all missing, it was his entire fault. Tony stopped moving and let his back slide down against the concrete wall, he felt the tight ball of anticipation curl up inside his stomach; he glanced up at Thor and could only see anger in the demi-gods eyes, anger directed at him.

"What are we going to do?" Tony asked quietly, his voice a mixture of defeat and…pain? Thor was disturbed by this; the usual exuberant man was suddenly filled with a grief Thor could only match to hopelessness. Thor looked down at Tony,

"We will get out of this; everything will be ok Man of Iron." Tony nodded and looked down at the dirty floor again; he didn't say anything so Thor turned away and began looking around the room. Because of this, Thor didn't see Tony clenching his fists, digging his nails deep into the palms of his hands, at first unable to draw blood but soon he increased the pressure and saw the sweet relief of blood trickle down his hands. The pain was numbed by the adrenaline but that too was slowly wearing off.

"I wonder what happened to the others." Tony muttered slowly as he stood up again, casually turning his hands around. Thor shrugged helplessly and Tony continued, "I don't think they're dead, I mean that guy seemed pretty happy to have Natasha so we can assume she's alive. Bruce is too hard to kill; they're probably keeping him in containment. Steve has some valuable blood in his body, they probably want the serum and Clint, well I don't know about him."

"I agree, but as Natasha said we know that the Red Skull is here, and whoever that man that took Natasha was. But there must be more, we took down an army as a team, there must be more than those two." Thor added, Tony noticed how he didn't mention his adopted brother Loki.

"We will probably get separated soon." Tony muttered looking towards the door, hoping for it to burst open and for his team mates to be standing there, weapons ready and prepared to fight. Tony waited.

And waited.

And waited.

But no-one came.

It was hard to judge the amount of time but being a genius Tony guessed around an hour later the door did slam open…Steve jumped in. His tall figure filed the doorway, a symbol of hope for the two trapped Avengers; he had his Shield on one arm and a determined expression on his face. Tony leapt to his feet again, except he looked back and realised it wasn't Steve, Thor spoke first,

"Brother?"

**Loki to be good or bad? **

**Natasha/Clint or Natasha/Steve? **

**It will take 1 second to let me know and then you can enjoy the story more, please guys **

**Thank you to kimbee, Birmingham girl , 26wolfhawke and saoirsebarrett15 for reviewing! **

**Take care and have a good day xx **


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you so so so much to **

**Sargerogue, dragonborn360,** **Guest, IWishIWasPepper, Guest Reader, Derpina Derpson, Guest, AlicinhaMB99, Avamys, YouWILLbealright, Greengurl, This IS my name, Julyruby,** **Guest, Guest, GODZILLAGIRL, Sallyc2, Lollypops101, coolgle, soccerwriter, ExoticGirl15, StarWarsSisters, Anonymous, 26wolfhawke, kimbee, Avengerscrazygal, Guest, EnyaAzari, Chronicles of Potter **

**and everyone who reviewed on previous chapters as well, you guys have literally made my day and I'm being completely serious, you really have so thank you (I have a massive exam tomorrow so I really needed a lift up) **

**The pairing has been decided and I am so sorry if it's not the one you wanted, I counted up the votes for each pair and you will not believe it but they tied…yes exactly equal…I know right? Unbelievable. **

**So I hope you continue to read the story even if you don't like the pairing, feel free to suggest any other pairings and I will get it in there :D **

Red was everywhere, it was dripping down her eyelids, off her fingertips, pouring from her mouth, whenever she tried to scream it would choke her until she was spitting out a fountain of blood. Pure pain danced around in her veins, it swam in the red that had pooled in front of her vision. The room was bleeding, it was screaming, she was screaming, the world was screaming…except it wasn't, there was silence.

"No-one cares about you." The voice repeated in her ear, the voice she had grown up with, she opened her mouth to yell, to shout, to be heard. The blood bubbled back down her throat and she couldn't make a sound, the rough burning sizzled on the inside of her chest, slicing straight through her heart. "You have no heart." The voice corrected as if it was controlling her pain, well actually it probably was.

Natasha was a child again…this was her childhood, she was back where she began, and she would rather be dead.

She woke up crying, but no tears followed.

Natasha twisted her head around quickly; there was no red, just stone, dirty hard stone. It had been a nightmare then, although it felt more like a memory, she knew that whatever happened to her in the days to follow would be controlled by Ivan's hand and she would therefore probably not survive.

Although she had just been locked into another empty cell after being taken away from Tony and Thor, Natasha felt as though she was being constantly watched, the spine tingling feeling, it made her hair stand on end and goosebumps to appear on her skin. She was sure there was a camera in the left corner of the room by the looks of things it was new and had just been installed. There was of course the possibility that there was more surveillance spying on her but she couldn't see any. She didn't so much as flinch when the door creaked open, slowly, enunciating each sound and second. The tip of a Glock 35 appeared first, peaking around the corner saying hello.

"Put your hands on your head!" A rough voice demanded through the other side of the door, Natasha knew that she could easily take this amateur down but she couldn't tell who else was out there, for all she knew there could be more than ten others…or there might be none. Usually Natasha would remain calm and do as she was told, safe in the knowledge that she could fight her way out, or if worse came to worse call the other Avengers. So maybe because she couldn't call the other Avengers, wherever the hell they were, or because she had no weapons to fight her way out with, that was probably why she internally panicked and did the thing that came natural, she attacked.

Quickly and fluidly, much like water, Natasha leapt towards the door, gripping onto the gun and twisting violently and yanking the holder of the weapon into her cell, into her cage. Pity for him she was the wild animal and he was the prey. He stared at her for a moment before lashing out blindly, his adrenaline pumping and therefore not thinking clearly. Natasha neatly dodged and wrapped his arm around her neck and waist; she turned it until she heard the bone crack, and then his pain filled yell followed. Easily dropping him to the ground and kicking his skull, she danced towards the door, she waited on her side before carefully inching around. She managed to get half her body around before something shot out of seemingly no-where, it struck her in the head and she fell to the ground landing heavily on her back. She opened her eyes again and saw Ivan standing over her, a disapproving frown on his face, and a gun in his left hand, end the butt of which was bloody, no doubt her blood.

"Oh Natalia sweetheart." He playfully shook his head, his manic eyes shining with glee. "Where were you going?" Natasha just stared at him; he raised his eyebrows and shrugged when she still didn't answer. "You weren't trying to escape, were you?" she assessed his body language and watched the way he was leaning in towards her, his right hand was twitching and he clearly wanted to pull the trigger of his gun, well fuck.

"Yes I was you insane bastard." Natasha hissed struggling to her feet, either way Ivan was going to hurt her but Natasha was a fighter. Everything in her life she had had to work for, she was made out of blood, sweat and tears…except no tears because tears were a sign of weakness, even if your entire world was collapsing around you, you didn't let a tear fall, no matter what.

"Oh we can't have that. You're my precious little sweetheart, you're not going anywhere." Ivan whispered, stepping towards Natasha. Sometimes looking at him it was hard to forget he was actually a trained spy/assassin, with his large frame he didn't look agile but he had been in charge of training Natasha and he was just as good as or more skilled than her. Natasha rolled out of the way as Ivan raised his gun and aimed for her head, as soon as she moved he out-stretched a muscled arm and pushed her into the wall. Slamming her temple against the concrete, her already damaged head made her vision blur but she clenched her fist and hit him across the jaw, he barely stumbled back.

Instead Ivan picked Natasha up and in defence she tried to wrap her thighs around his neck, she couldn't reach and he pushed her roughly into the wall. He cocked his gun and placed it in her thigh; she bit down on her now bloody mess of a lip as she felt the bullet pierce her flesh. She watched as the red leaked out and visions of her previous nightmare appeared in front of her eyes, she went slack and felt Ivan let her drop to the floor. All her energy abandoned her and she pathetically curled in on herself, weakly trying to protect her vital organs. Ivan began to kick her, Natasha heard the gun click, she flinched automatically. He chuckled darkly but didn't fire another bullet. Ivan began to walk back out; he turned briefly to look back at the injured assassin,

"Don't ever try to leave me again Natalia. Try not to bleed to death we still have fun planned," he glanced around her cell his eyes landed on the dead body Natasha had killed trying to escape. "I will leave you with him, to remind you, never go against me." Ivan hissed, Natasha shook her head, silently begging him to take the dead man, he laughed again and stomped away, his heavy boots hitting the floor.

Natasha lay on her cold floor, the only source of warmth was her bloody bullet wound, she turned to face the man she had killed. She realised with shock that he was going to be her only companion for however long she was stuck here, until she escaped or died.

She allowed the sobs to rack her body, still though no tears fell.

**Intense I know… **

**So I have a question, who is your favourite Avenger (Loki included) whoever gets the most mentions the next chapter will be about them! **

**You'll find out the pairing soon, the more reviews the quicker I update xx Take care xx**


	6. Chapter 6

**Ok so re-cap: **

**Steve is alone in a room and the door has just opened to reveal the Red Skull, Natasha has been taken by Ivan they got into a fight, she has a moderate head injury and a bullet in her leg, she has been locked in a room with a dead body. Clint is with Trickshot and Swordsman, Bruce has been drugged by General Ross who revealed that they were going to do tests on him, Thor and Tony are in a room together Tony is starting to freak out from memories of Afghanistan and Loki has just opened their cell door…I think that's everything, any requests just review :D **

**THE PAIRING IS REVEALED…warning for language and violence/torture…sorry. **

"I must admit I am fairly impressed with you Clint." The smooth voice whispered as the words splattered themselves in front of the archer's eyes; they were all he could see. "You have done well for yourself, until now we have caught you of course, things might change." Clint shuddered inwardly and desperately tried to think of happier times. It was a skill Natasha had taught him, the one place your torturers can't fully get to you is inside your head so stay there, block yourself in and block them out. This brought Clint's thoughts thundering back to Natasha, her fiery red hair, the way she had been separated from the other Avengers at first before they purposely went out of their way to make her feel comfortable. And how she would melt into his chest at the end of a hard day, and only his chest, the way she would demand his attention when she walked into a room, without even meaning to.

These thoughts of course led him to think about Natasha at that very second, where was she? Was she ok? Who had her? Fucking hell, Clint didn't even know if the women he loved was still alive, horrible images filled his mind of her lifeless body lying on the ground of an empty cell, her blood leaking out from her, staining the floor the colour of her hair. He shook his head angrily and he heard Trickshot laughing above him. Something snapped in Clint,

"You bastard! Just let me go, I need to get the fuck out of here, if you don't let me go soon you will fucking regret it, I swear to you-"Clint was cut off again when he felt thick fingers pressed onto his neck, they put an uncomfortable amount of pressure on his trachea and he had to stop shouting to control his breathing and avoid unconsciousness.

"Now, calm down Hawkeye, I suppose you're just pining for your team, yes? You will see them all in good time my boy. First though we need to punish you, you betrayed us and we must act on it, surely you agree?" Trickshot asked. Clint marvelled at the calmness of the other man's voice, as if they were casually chatting about the weather. Still Clint couldn't answer instead he tried to shake his head adamantly, no.

Trickshot smiled and released the pressure from Clint's throat; he walked calmly to the wall behind Clint's head. He reached out and pulled a heavy rusty chain that was connected to two metal hoops. He looked down at Clint who in return stared up at him, his features held the presence of anger but the slightest hint of fear and apprehension. The next thing Clint felt was a sharp pain in his temple; Trickshot had slammed his foot into the side of his head and grinned as he did so.

The archer's last coherent thoughts were, _fuck me. _

**LINE BREAK LINE BREAK **

The next time Clint woke up everything was foggy, no scratch that, everything was painful, that was the first thing he noticed. There was a sharp stinging spreading through his right temple, he experimentally moved his jaw and felt the tightness of dried blood crusting around his face. He didn't understand where he was, he knew he should be lying in bed at Avengers Tower with Natasha, he figured that maybe he was on a mission with her and shit had hit the fan, then Trickshot stepped out and he realised Natasha wasn't with him, then he remembered...

For once Trickshot didn't gloat or tease, for once he didn't make a show of things, instead he just stared at the man who was lying on the floor with his arms suspended above him being held up by chains. In response Clint lowered his eyes to the ground, he knew he would have to face whatever torture Trickshot had conjured but that didn't mean he had to look at it.

"Usually I would just cause pain for the person in your position but honestly Clint I think you deserve more than that. I thought we were like family and we could still have been if you hadn't have grown a useless conscience. I have a question for you though, and you must answer honestly." Trickshot knelt down so he was only slightly taller than Clint's sitting form, "I will not hurt you if you agree to condemn one of your teammates, do you agree?"

For the first time since he had been caught genuine fear bubbled inside of him, it was a fear that manifested itself in the pit of your stomach and sent itself leaking through your veins, it took over your whole body until you could feel nothing but fear. It was truly terrifying. Clint knew that there had to be another reason for Trickshot and Swordsman to have captured him and they certainly couldn't have been working alone, and here Trickshot was now asking him the one question he would never agree to, will you sell out your teammates to save yourself?

"No." Clint said finally through gritted teeth, in his head he had sounded dominant and defiant but in reality he actually sounded sad and his voice was slurred from the blow to his head earlier. Trickshot just smiled and stood up,

"Fine Hawkeye, but I'll ask you again in about half an hour, let's see if you have changed your mind by then." He snarled, Clint could hear the underlying venom in his voice. He didn't expect it however when Trickshot turned around and left, Clint's first reaction was _I have to get out of here._ However, he quickly realised after seconds of vein struggling that option was not going to happen. Before he could even begin to fathom what was going to happen next the door swung open and a man Clint had never seen before swaggered in. He was large, but from Clint's position on the floor he looked massive, he had a dirty face and a black eye, clearly he was not to be messed with. He looked down at Clint with an expression of contempt, but there was something off about his eyes.

He was carrying a black briefcase that was battered and old, and Clint was sure that was a blood stain on the handle. The man clicked the locks open and brought out a metal wedge with a matching hammer that was smaller than a regular one used for construction.

"I have respect for the Avengers," the man said his voice was surprisingly soft, "so I am sorry to have to do this but, I owe Trickshot a favour, if I do not repay him he will kill my family and I cannot risk that." The man's voice had an undercurrent of a Spanish accent, he leant down and secured Clint's feet in chains to match his hands, so he was spread eagled on the ground. He purposely avoided Clint's eyes and the archer watched him with a blank expression, Natasha's words rang in his ears, never let them know they're winning, as soon as you do that they have won. "I'm sorry." The man mumbled again, he slipped the wedge slightly beneath the thumb nail on Clint's left hand. He pushed the hammer down with force and Clint felt the pain of his nail slowly being ripped from his finger as the blood leaked out. He let out a strangled yell as the man continued to hit down on the wedge, until minutes later with an agonizing burning Clint's nail came off.

There was a puddle of blood on the floor and Clint's nail was lying right in the centre, slices of his skin surrounded it, he watched as the man moved over to his other side and placed the wedge underneath his right thumb nail. Again the searing pain shot through Clint's body until he was trying his best not to scream, he was biting down so hard on his tongue that he could taste blood in his mouth, but, he couldn't hold it in and he began to scream when the man started to remove his big toe nails.

"Enough." Trickshot said as he walked in smiling, he looked at Clint's sweaty red face; it seemed to give him genuine pleasure. "Have you reconsidered your answer to my question?" Clint genuinely thought about it, the pain was so unbearable that he would love to say yes and just do whatever he was told but, he knew that could mean hurting Natasha and there was no way in hell he would ever so that.

"Still no." Clint said adamantly, Trickshot nodded thoughtfully, he gestured for the torturer to leave, he took his exit with his head bowed, Clint almost felt sorry for him, _almost. _

"I suspected you may say that but what if I made you a deal."

"Still no." Clint mumbled in return.

"What if I said to you, if you torture Steve Rogers no harm will come to Natasha Romanoff?" Trickshot offered, his eyebrows raised as Clint's mouth fell open, without even a second thought or consideration the archer found himself speaking,

"Deal."

**Don't hate Clint…or me! I warned you there may be some problems with the team…well I didn't but I have now. **

**Who next? Tony, Natasha and Clint or one of the others? **

**Also do you guys think I have the potential to be a published author one day because that's the dream and I don't know if I'll ever be good enough, constructive criticism welcomed. **


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm so sorry for the wait…but well read the authors note if you're unsure why. **

**Thank you to everyone that offered their support, I want you guys to know that you genuinely have and do make me feel better. **

**Please review it makes me smile so much! **

**I'll explain what happened to Thor soon so don't worry about his sudden disappearance). **

Tony viciously gripped his head with his hands; digging his finger nails into his scalp and growling. The whole concept of being held captive by his –and the other avengers- worst enemies was maddening and not to mention a cliché. It was frustrating to him how powerful his persona, Iron Man, was and foolishly Tony had begun to believe that he too was one and the same and just as powerful. Now, without his suit; without any connection to Jarvis or his technologies, or in fact any materials that he could build a weapon with Tony realised just how powerless he was.

He was in actual fact a man. Just a man.

Yes, a genius, playboy, billionaire, philanthropist but nonetheless a man without power, a man without ability, just a man. And he was scared…he wanted desperately to know what had happened to the few people he cared about, and then it hit him. The gut wrenching, fear inducing, adrenaline pumping into his veins, as his stomach dropped and heart sped up.

Pepper.

Dear God what had happened to Pepper? Did they have her? Did they know about her? Tony's mind began to race as he imagined his beautiful girlfriend lying sprawled on the polished floors of Avengers Tower, her slender figure, mangled and bloody, her screaming voice yelling for him, pure pain twisted in her face. His stomach dropped further, he began to feel genuine pain for his girlfriend, he wondered briefly if they had some sort of telepathic connection and he was feeling what she was feeling. He sincerely hoped not because the pain he was feeling was excruciating, he would never want Pepper to experience this. Never.

Automatically his hands went to the source of his pain, his stomach, he pressed his hands against his ACDC shirt, and realised he hadn't been feeling pain for Pepper. He had been shot. Straight through the stomach, he had been panicking and relieving memories far too vividly to even hear the gunshot that had reverberated throughout the stone room. And then when the pain had hit him, his frazzled mind had run to the thing that was worrying him most…Pepper.

"Oh god…" He choked out; his voice was weak and cracked, warm, moist blood seeped through his fingers as he hovered his left hand over his wound and fell to his knees, he used his right hand to keep from face planting the floor. A dark chuckle emitted from behind him, he recognised that voice. It was home to his nightmares, a constant visitor in his mind, always lurking, always present.

Raza. The leader of the Ten Rings, the terrorist organisation that had kidnapped Tony and had become the reason he created the Iron Man suit and became a changed and improved man.

"Nice to see you again Mr Stark." His voice…that voice. "It is a shame that we meet in these circumstances again, but you see, I am still upset, you were going to build me a missile but instead you built a suit for yourself and killed many of my men, however you made a fatal mistake…you did not kill me. I have no intention to kill you yet Mr Stark, we have too much catching up to do, but you must understand this." Raza paused for dramatic effect, he prowled over to Tony who was still resting on his knees and trying to hold his stomach together. "You are a pathetic, filthy excuse for a human being, you are of no use anymore, I just want to watch you writhe in pain, and beg for your slow, gruelling death, because Mr Stark you are nothing compared to your friends…nothing at all."

The whole situation was too similar, it was seeping into Tony's soul, attacking his heart and mind, he couldn't stop it, it bubbled inside of him, and it was unavoidable.

He started laughing. But, it wasn't just a small giggle, it was a stomach aching (which in Tony's condition was not good) headache inducing laugh. A real laugh and Tony could not stop, regardless of the fact that he had a murder/terrorist/insane guy that wanted him dead, standing a few feet away and cocking a gun.

"I'm glad you find it funny Mr Stark, because I promise you soon you will not be laughing." Tony registered the threat but he was unable to stop the rich laughter flooding from him, it mingled with the blood and elevated the pain. Raza stepped towards him, just as his mirth began to subside; angrily the terrorist lashed out and kicked Tony in the stomach. Without warning vomit and blood dribbled out of Tony's mouth, it formed a puddle on the floor and Raza knocked Tony's supporting right arm from under him so he ended up face down in his mess. "Like I said, you are pathetic, you are nothing."

And for the first time, Tony agreed with him.

**Short I know, I'm sorry. **

**I don't know if that was any good, please drop me a review if you want **


	8. Chapter 8

**Thank you kimbee, Margaret, Avengerscrazygal, Guest, Emma, avengers lover, bluerose921, AlicinhaMB99 and Full-on-nerd for reviewing. **

**And I wanna take a sec to just let you all know that every single one of you are bloody brilliant (god you can tell I'm British) and thank you for even reading this. I owe you all. **

**You guys are my life line, I'm not kidding. **

"Hello Captain, did you miss me?" It felt like someone had injected a cold slither of water up Steve's spine, he could feel the biting cold sink deeper into his bones. The cold scared him. It infected him. Hell, for years upon years he had been the definition of cold. An ice cube…a Capsicle.

"I thought you were dead." He muttered, teeth chattering and hands shaking, from…fear? Cold? Terror? Freezing?

"Quite clearly I am alive. But you got me good; I'll give you that Rogers, I am thankful though, that I have you here now." The Red Skull… John Schmidt. Perhaps the one man to ever send fear straight into Steve's heart, probably because Steve had lost everything because of this man, he had lost the women he had hoped to love, his best friend Bucky and all of the Howling Commandos.

"Where are the others, if you only want me?" Steve asked carefully to avoid showing emotion in his voice or body language.

"Dead." That word stopped everything. Steve stopped shaking, he stopped feeling, he stopped thinking it was as if the world had decided to freeze and suddenly Steve was isolated again, as if in a block of solid ice. "Only kidding!" The grip that had been solidifying itself around Steve's neck expanded and he could breathe again…well a little bit. "Oh no, they're still alive but you see I have nothing to do with them, therefore you don't either." That crushing feeling pressing itself against his throat was back again, stronger, tighter, sharper.

"Will they die?" Steve asked, he didn't care about himself anymore, he would willingly die three times over it meant one of his friends got to live. It was strange that, everyone had always told him how perfect he was; how self-sacrificing he was and he understood that he was meant to be exactly that, a martyr. However, he had always had this small doubt in the back of his mind that, if –no, no, when- the time arose he wouldn't be able to do it. He wouldn't be able to willingly sacrifice himself for someone else, but all that doubt, all that worry melted away as soon as he was put into the position, he knew what he had to do.

He had to die.

"Yes, in fact, I think Mr Stark and Miss Romanoff are already on their way out." Steve didn't like that. Sure, him and Tony had never seen eye to eye but Steve respected that man, goddamn it Steve loved that man, he was caring and supportive and no matter how hard he tried to hide it Steve knew that Tony loved the Avengers utterly and completely with all his heart. As for Natasha well she was his little sister, she was the woman he would always protect because he had never had a sister, but Natasha was beautiful, kind, and kick ass, Steve would fight until his very last breath for her and he knew in a heartbeat she would do the same for him.

"We will all live. We will all get out. We. Will. Win." Steve's voice was hard, cold, calculating, he was trying to think of ways he could break out and get free.

"Oh Captain…you've already lost."

**A review would be lovely, good or bad. **

**Who next, Bruce or Thor, or someone else?**


	9. Chapter 9

**I want to apologise for the lack of Thor, he comes up next with maybe a drabble of Natasha. But the more you review the quicker I update :D **

**A super big massive thank you to: Delphy, Olympus97, RockAngel2642, Avamys, Avengerscrazygal, Marrow365, Preferably, oreoluvver, alldifferentallsame, kimbee, avengergirl13, Lovemyhorsey, ****Awesomeness and annettechanelle1 for being the kindest reviewers ever. **

**Thanks to whoever actually reads this, reviews it or follows/favourites it. You're all great!**

Bruce had grown accustomed to being on his own; having to separate himself from any other type of company, in a small way he had grown to like it. Well, he thought he had, but after moving into Avengers Tower he realised what he had been missing out on. The feeling of safety and reliance, knowing that when you go to sleep at night there is someone (or five someone's) to watch your back, having spent so much time alone Bruce had forgotten that feeling. Safety was not something that had been a main concern of his, the other guy had always seemed like good enough protection, but in all honesty it was probably more the fact that he didn't care what happened to him.

Anger had always been his most powerful emotion; it was so powerful that it propelled itself throughout his body and infected itself within his veins until he would rather feel anything else or nothing at all, than the rage that consumed him. But now…now he would give anything to be able to free the hulk and save his teammates, and liberate himself from the emotion that was overpowering him now.

Fear.

Fear for his teammate's lives, he had already seen so much. He had saw Clint being tortured, having his nails ripped viciously off, Natasha being shot in the leg, beaten and left with a dead body and Tony being shot in the stomach. And to him…nothing. No pain, no torture, no shouting, no screaming just lying there, alone, frightened and cold.

The drugs that had been administered to him were affecting his vision, they were making things distorted and bright, still though, he could focus on the screens. Strangely Thor was not on one of them, he and Tony had been separated and Bruce could not for the life of him figure out why. It was painful…not knowing.

"And how are we feeling today?" General Ross asked as he practically skipped into the room. This was his goal, finally having the hulk at a point where he could do nothing to resist and could finally be tested on and eventually killed.

"Let me go." Bruce didn't mean to say it, he had wanted to remain in a powerful stony silence, but had been unsuccessful. He was desperate, Ross knew it, he knew, hell his teammates probably knew it. However, he was determined not to beg. "Please."

See, he was weak.

Not a hero.

An outcast.

A danger to society.

"And why would I do that? After all these years, after countless murders you committed, after years of hiding behind other people and their powers and I finally have you. So why on earth would I let you go?" Ross asked and in return Bruce almost growled. Rather, the other guy almost growled.

"Fine, let the others go, I don't care about me, do whatever you want but just let them go." Bruce would beg for his friends, he would do anything for his friends. Because they weren't his friends. They were his family. "Please." Ross pulled up a stool next to the metal table that was restricting Bruce, he peered down at the shaking man.

"I can do whatever I want to you anyway, so why would I let your friends go?" He asked, his voice was not the only sound in the room, there was a beeping machine and a constant humming sound that frustrated Bruce to no end.

"Because, they have nothing to do with this issue between us. It doesn't involve them and they don't need to be hurt because of it." Bruce was proud of himself; he had managed to keep his voice strong, as if he was in control and not at all scared. Something flashed across General Ross's eyes…sorrow.

"If it were up to me your friends would be released, they are real heroes and do not deserve to be treated this way. Sadly though it's not, it is up to whomever their tormentor is, they are your friends worst nightmares so I doubt they would let them go. It's a shame, you deserve this but they do not. For you see Dr Banner, you are a murderer, a monster, no different from the people the Avengers fight; you are the worst anyone can get."

Every self-doubting thought that Bruce had experienced were suddenly brought to life before his eyes and ears, the other avengers had always told him the opposite. They had told him so frequently and consistently that he had slowly begun to believe them but now he realised that they had been lying.

He was a murderer.

He was a monster.

He was the worst anyone can get.

…..

**Do you want the Avengers to stay separated or start being put together? Do you want the villains to join forces and start torturing them in groups or staying separate? **

**Also there will be some deceit and turning on each other but it is to save another person…that didn't make sense. Like what Clint's doing, to save Natasha he's going to hurt Steve. If you would rather none of that let me know otherwise it's going to happen. **

**Let's make a deal, ill update if you review ;) **


	10. Chapter 10

**This carries on from chapter 4, so Tony and Thor are still in the cell together and Loki has just opened the door. I know it's confusing but it won't happen again. **

**Thank you to all the reviewers, you're all amazing and kind people **

Thor spoke first,

"Brother?" Loki grinned; his eyes were dark and his movements slow and careful. He gestured to somewhere behind him and then at Tony, quickly several men flooded the room and dragged Tony away, he didn't resist, he was scared, he was scared of Loki.

"Hello Thor," the god of mischief purred, his voice was soft and caressing, but it was pointed and sharp too. He stepped towards the god of thunder who seemed too shocked to move, as he stepped forwards a shiver ran through Loki's spine and he fell towards the floor. Before he could hit the concrete he picked himself up and ran a hand over his eyes. "Brother?" Loki asked, his tone was frightened, like a small child. "I…I shouldn't have done this." Thor watched wide eyed as Loki shook his head and looked around the room.

"Loki, what is going on? What do you mean?" Thor leant forward to help his seemingly unsteady brother but as his fingertips brushed Loki's billowing black cloak he jumped back and yelled,

"No! Get away from me you worthless pathetic excuse of a god! We are not brothers, we never were and never will be, I despise you and everyone associated with you. If I had the choice you and all of them would be brutally decapitated until the floor was painted red and the sky was filled with tortured screams of their dying souls!" Loki's voice grew quieter as he snarled out the last few words, as if an icy biting cold had crept its way into the room as Loki ranted.

Thor knew there was something wrong with Loki, his posture was wrong he seemed huddled over himself, not at all like the once confident prince he used to be. He seemed afraid but not of something physical, or something mental. Perhaps his own mind, his twisted, rotten, dark mind that spun torturous thoughts that flew through his vision, no wonder he was a little insane.

"You are my brother Loki; no matter what you say or do will change that. We grew up together; we played together and fought together, we will always have that bond and those memories. You cannot erase the past, no matter how hard you try." Thor's voice was strong and powerful but Loki wasn't listening he was breathing heavily and the veins in his arms were protruding as he clenched his fists.

"You will regret calling me your brother; I will hurt you until you beg for the slow release of death. I pity you. You are weak." Loki's voice was back to its normal confidence and pride, he turned to leave but just as he did he looked back and Thor saw the manic flicker in his eyes. Thor knew.

His brother was insane.

…

Natasha felt strong arms scoop her up off the floor, she was fighting for consciousness but failing miserably, her leg felt as if it was on fire but she knew the bullet had not hit an artery, if it had she would be dead and this whole nightmare would be behind her. She was being carried out of her room and into another, away from the dead body that had begun to decay. She heard a heavy door pushed open and suddenly the large arms carrying her were gone and she was slammed into the cold, hard floor. Still unable to open her eyes properly she just lay there thinking, she thought about the guys and realised how much she missed them, she thought about the girls and realised how they were like her sisters, she revelled in how much more open she had become, instead of just Clint around her she had five other guys and girls. She realised how devastating it would be for her to die right now, but how fitting it would be.

She knew she deserved it.

Fire ripped itself throughout her body, a torturous flame burning its way throughout her veins, to every little part of her. She arched her back off the ground and desperately tried to suck in breath but the cold air burnt her throat and she was screaming again. An agonized scream freed itself from her mouth and she took it back. She wouldn't be devastated to die, she wanted to die. But now she knew she deserved to live in the pain. She knew what this was, they were electrocuting her but what she didn't realise was that Steve and Tony were watching.

She screamed again. She screamed out their names, anyone's names, Clint's name.

It stopped but she knew it was not over, not yet. She refused to move an inch, too afraid of the throbbing that ran throughout her body. But somebody was pulling her into their lap, it was Steve. Steve was like an older brother to Natasha, as soon as he met her he had acted like it, and she had let him. She felt a hand stroking her face, Tony. He was surprisingly her closest friend on the team, they were similar, they both put up walls to protect themselves, and they were both self-destructive.

"We're going to get out of here Nat, I promise." That was Steve, she didn't make any movements and instead felt the relief wash over her as she realised she wasn't alone.

She wasn't alone.

But where was Clint?

**Okay so we've got Steve, Tony and Nat all in a room, Bruce off by himself, Clint and Thor separate and an insane Loki. **

**Who do ya want next? **

**Maybe review if you're feeling nice? **


	11. Chapter 11

**Time for a re-cap: Steve, Tony and Natasha are all in a room together, Tony is suffering some mental torture because of his time in Afghanistan and has been shot in the stomach, Steve is uninjured but Natasha has been electrocuted, shot in the leg and has a head injury. Clint has made a deal to harm Steve as long as Natasha isn't tortured. Thor is in a room by himself with Loki as his capturer (Loki is slightly insane) and Bruce is also by himself with General Ross going to test on him. In summary: The Avengers are up shit creek! **

**Imagine if all the followers (and guests) reviewed this story…I honestly think I would track you all down and give you a hug….hint hint ;) **

Tony couldn't feel his legs but he didn't want to move, he was in a slightly awkward position and he was sincerely glad Pepper couldn't see him. Natasha was lying in between his thighs, he had a hand resting on her leg to staunch the flow of blood from her bullet wound, her head was suspiciously low in his lap. Steve was holding a hand on Tony's stomach and was pressed up against him to provide body heat. It would definitely look suspicious. Oddly enough it comforted Tony.

A big part of the fear that had harvested in Tony's mind known as Afghanistan was because he had been alone for such a long time. Yinsen being the only other person he could talk to, but now he was surrounded with other people, people he knew and cared about, maybe even loved. At least he wasn't alone. He looked towards the door, wondering who was out there, was this the place the famous billionaire, playboy, genius, philanthropist would die? Maybe. He genuinely hoped it would be quick and that he would be first to go, he knew he couldn't handle seeing his other friends die.

"Tony…?" Steve asked sitting up, he was blinking rapidly and Tony realised the soldier had been asleep, it sent a swell of pride to his heart knowing that Steve would trust him enough to fall asleep and guard him and the unconscious Natasha. Steve removed his hand from Tony's shirt and grimaced, his hand was a bright crimson, completely covered in blood. Although the wound wasn't bleeding as badly as it had it sure as hell wasn't healthy. Tony took his hand away from Natasha's thigh and swore softly, his hand was covered in blood too.

Something snapped.

The blood drowned Tony, it was his fault all those lives that had been taken, innocent lives that had been stolen or hijacked all because of him. He had made those weapons, he may not have fired them at the thousands of people they killed but he had invented them, therefore condemning the people to their deaths. Helping the bad guys.

So in retrospect perhaps him being kidnapped was the right thing, he deserved it. Tony's breathing became shallow as he remembered the water that was poured over his face. The rush of adrenaline that shot through him as his lungs constricted, the liquid as it poured down his throat, when it came surging back up through his nose. The heavy feeling off his lungs, realising that he was not invincible, being completely at the mercy of terrorists. Discovering he was weak, nothing but a self-fish, pathetic, petty excuse of a man. That was when he re-invented himself, he became Iron Man. Strong. Independent. Invincible.

Hiding.

Fake.

Weak.

"Tony! Tony, come on listen to me please! Focus on me, ignore the memories just breathe!" Steve's voice was shouting at Tony but the billionaire wasn't sure why, why was he being shouted at? He was in Afghanistan why was Steve even there? Where was Yinsen? And why was it so cold, it was mean to be hot. The present was tangled with the past, like wires that had been shoved in a draw together, impossible to untangle after. It was disorientating. "Tony!" It hurt his head and he just wanted to go home, he wanted Pepper, he wanted Jarvis, he was frightened. "Tony!" Steve's panicked tone wasn't enough to pull the billionaire to the surface but Natasha was.

Her scream was.

It cut the air like smoke. It lingered and floated, piercing Tony's ears, his heart, the pure pain behind the sound. The hands that had been pressed on Tony's shoulders had disappeared as Steve began desperately panicking over Natasha instead.

"Tony help! Natasha needs you…Tony!" That did it, in a shot the inventor was scrambling to his feet, as soon as he got up he had fallen back on his knees, but it didn't matter, he crawled over instead. Natasha's body was convulsing, her screams had stopped but instead Tony could see the veins straining in her neck, her whole body tensed as she shook.

"Pin her down!" he shouted…it was utter bullshit. He didn't know what he was doing; the truth was he had watched Scrubs a couple of nights ago and remembered seeing someone have a seizure, they had pinned him down and on impulse Tony had shouted it.

"Now what?" Steve yelled blood had begun to trickle from the younger assassin's mouth, sending jolts of fear slicing through both men.

"I don't fucking know!" Tony screamed back, all rational thoughts disappeared and he began breathing heavily. It was in this moment that he realised it was worse having people he cared about around him. In Afghanistan he had been alone, he had thought that that was hard but this…this was so much harder.

He had so much more to lose. He looked at Natasha's shaking form and Steve's frantic movements. He knew then, he had already begun to lose them.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

Clint kicked the wall in frustration, what the hell was he meant to do? Could he really do it, could he hurt the Captain in order to save his Natasha? If it was a life or death situation then yes, he would. Natasha would hate him and probably never forgive him but he could learn to cope with that as long as it meant she would live. But was this a life or death situation?

No. Well, technically yes, any of them could die any minute but Clint knew who had Natasha, he knew it was Ivan and he also knew Ivan would not let Natasha die until he had his sadistic fun with her. So would Clint torturing Steve save Natasha or just turn her and the Captain and the rest of the team, and probably the world against him. But still, he would deal with that even if it gave Natasha the chance to escape.

"Well, if you wish to save her then follow me, if not say now." Trickshot snarled as he gestured to the open door, Clint thought for another second before deciding, it was morality against loyalty.

"I can't hurt Steve." Clint admitted, he knew right then that he had sentenced the women he loved to unspeakable pain but Clint wasn't stupid, he hadn't just sacrificed his wife for no reason.

He needed to speak to Ivan.

**Very important question!**

**I'm going to put the Avengers in pairs but who goes with who? Only one rule, Natasha and Clint cannot go together, this also means the torturers will begin to work together but so will the Avengers. Guys, it's gonna get pretty intense. **

**Let me know who you want. **

**As always you guys are the best readers and I really genuinely love your reviews. Every single one. **


	12. Chapter 12

**I know, I know! It's been way to long, I'm so sorry but I know it's no excuse things have just been getting hard again. **

**I'm also afraid I didn't have time to proofread, so please ignore mistakes. **

**I won't be updating unless I get a goo amount of reviews. **

The air had grown colder, as if ice had been sprayed into the room. It felt worse because of the sterile colours that surrounded him, there was no sign of warmth, he was sure that even his body temperature was dropping into the minuses. He let out a shuddery breath and wasn't surprised when it formed a cloud in front of his eyes, but it was reassuring, it reminded him that he was alive.

"Well, well, good to see you're awake Dr Banner." Bruce felt his body involuntary spasm away from the threatening voice, not because he was afraid of the man that had spoken, oh no, it was because he recognized the voice. It had shocked him, because it wasn't General Ross, it was someone far more sinister.

Loki.

"What are you doing here?" Bruce asked, his voice easily betraying his emotions: shock, fear, worry for his teammates all shone out through his tone and he knew the god of mischief could hear it.

"Now don't be rude, I'm here because the pathetic mortal under the name of Ross asked me to assure your security when we transport you." Loki explained casually, he moved around the room in a relaxed way and Bruce glared at him as soon as he was within his line of vision.

"What help would you be?" Bruce asked whilst letting out a mocking laugh, "From what I remember last time the hulk came out he beat you into the ground." Bruce watched as Loki's face morphed into fury, it was at that point that Bruce realized Loki looked…different. His usual calm and composed posture was messy, his movements were slow and tired, his hair was randomly spiked and looked as if he had a bad case of bed head compared to his usual slicked back style. Not only that but he seemed to twitch his head and clench his hands every so often.

"You know that you cannot call upon the beast, although yes you will be leaving this room, a device has been invented, if your heart rate goes above a certain level then your teammates will suffer, and if you do call forth the beast then they will be killed. So there is no chance of a rematch." Loki raised an eyebrow and Bruce scowled at his smug expression.

"Why am I leaving?" The doctor asked the god, his voice no longer full of emotions but monotone, he did not want to give anything away.

"We will be putting each of the Avengers into pairs, this way we can torture you all and make you watch. The pairs will change and I am sure you will have a chance to see all your teammates writhing in pain." Loki grinned again but as he moved away his whole body shuddered and suddenly he slammed his hands on either side of Bruce's face, the doctor flinched but was still unable to move away from his position on the table.

"L-Loki?" He asked cautiously.

"I'm sorry Bruce, I'm so sorry! You will die eventually, you will all die, it will hurt so much, and my brother will die. But he's not my brother. But he is. I still love him. No, I hate him and I hate all of you, but I still feel as if I should be on your side. But no. I will kill you, all of each, slowly, painfully, and I will smile as I watch the life drain from your eyes. Bruce…I'm sorry." Loki's voice cracked, it dived from higher to lower until he was just rambling to himself. Before Bruce could respond the god shook his head and stormed from the room. Just as Bruce began to think the words that had been practically shouted at him through, the door creaked open again and a needle was being pushed into his arm, his final view was of General Ross's grinning face.

**LINE BREAK LINE BREAK LINE BREAK **

"Just breathe, in…out, in…out, there you go. Nice and slow honey." Tony cooed as he stroked his hand down Natasha's shaking arm, the normally stoic assassin had relaxed with team and now considered them all (minus Clint) her brothers. This is why she allowed herself to completely lean into Steve and Tony and listened carefully to their calm instructions as spasms of pain shot through her. She shot up from her position of lying on Steve's chest when a particularly sharp pain ran through her stomach.

"Why is this happening?" She cried out as Tony rubbed her back, he chuckled softly, "Why the fuck are you laughing?" She yelled in anger but moaned soon after.

"Sorry, it's just…it's like you're giving birth." Both Steve and Natasha froze at his words and even laughed a little themselves, despite the tense situation and Natasha's blinding pain it elevated the dark mood. However, as soon as the door was slammed open the dark mood gathered like rain clouds and the three superheroes shied away from the upcoming storm.

Before anyone of them could react several heavily armed men stormed in the room and pulled the three of them apart. Steve easily fought the first two off but when the other guards grabbed Natasha and Tony and cocked guns to his injured teammates heads he froze but didn't allow them to touch him, instead they just pointed guns at him.

"Get out!" Red Skull stormed in and shouted at Steve. Natasha and Tony watched in shock as Steve's head lowered and he began to move towards the door sadly,

"Steve what the fuck are you doing?" Tony yelled at his leader, Steve looked back up at him and grimaced in response.

"I'm sorry, but they might hurt you guys more if I don't." His voice was cold and unattached.

He had to be.

They all had to be.

Steve was pushed straight out the door and away from his two injured teammates…friends'…family. Just before as door was shut behind him Red Skull, leaned in close and whispered in his ear.

"And guess who your roommate it?"

"Who?" Steve asked, his voice quieter than he expected, the only other sound was the heavy echo of boots hitting the stone floor.

"The man who earlier made a deal to torture you…Clint Barton."

**Just to be clear, Clint isn't going to torture Steve but he did agree to it earlier even though he backed out. **

**So the next chapter will be filled with torture and whump, who do you want hurt? **

**I won't be updating unless I get a good amount of reviews. **

**Take care - KCAW**


	13. Chapter 13

_**Well hello there dearest reader, **_

_**I should apologize for the slowish update but if you review I will update very soon, if you don't I won't update either. **_

_**So you guys mainly requested Steve, Clint and Natasha so…well read and you'll see. However, I should warn you there is hinting at a love triangle so just go with it and enjoy it. **_

_**As always thank you to each and every reviewer/follower/favouriter…(is that even the right word?) **_

_**Have an amazing day/night **_____

Steve's mind was reeling; he knew that he shouldn't jump to conclusions, that there was an extremely good chance that Red Skull was lying to cause friction between the team, but then again…was it really true? Did Clint agree to torture him? Even the thought of that made the soldiers stomach turn, being kidnapped and tortured was one thing, but his team turning on him…his family turning on him, well, that was another. He was so distracted by the inner turmoil going on inside him that he barely felt the guns being pressed into his spine, it wasn't until he was pushed through a doorway did he regain focus.

"Steve!" Was the first thing he heard, the voice was filled with relief and hope, perhaps hope of escape, it was Clint's voice, but just as quickly as that emotion came another one followed, "Oh god Steve!" Apparently, by the sound of that and the look on the archers face Clint knew…he knew that Steve had been told that he was previously going to torture him. "I'm so sorry!" He shouted whilst Steve was pushed in beside him, he was so weak he couldn't remain on his feet and fell pathetically to his knees.

"Now, now, play nice boys." Red Skull hissed as he backed out of the room, leaving a weak Captain America on his knees and Hawkeye ringing his hands nervously.

"Steve look, I know what he must have said to you but-" Clint stepped towards the man who was silently struggling to his feet, he offered a hand to help the soldier but Steve stoically ignored it.

"Clint just stop ok, I trust you, you don't need to explain yourself to me." Although Steve's words were comforting they were not said in a comforting tone, they were spoken in a monotone voice that clearly said, _don't bother. _

However, Clint Barton was a stubborn bastard.

"No you listen to me Rogers! I'm sorry ok, you do know that I didn't want to actually hurt you…it was just, it was you or Natasha and I seriously am sorry but I would and still will choose her over everything and everyone." Steve looked up at Clint as he practically shouted. The archer looked tired and stressed, his hair rumpled as if he had been running a hand through it, it was then that Steve noticed the blood dripping from his friends hand, it was smeared along the floor and walls as well as his clothes, his nails had been ripped off. Steve took a moment to thank god that he hadn't been hurt yet, because although he would always put his team before himself he would rather not have his nails ripped viciously off.

"You…you did it for Natasha?" Steve questioned softly, he crawled over to the wall and sat up against it, Clint did the same so they were shoulder to shoulder.

"Yeah, but it doesn't matter now anyway, I realized Natasha would hate to be the reason I caused you pain so I pulled out. They're probably going to torture her now, if they haven't already." Clint sounded as if he would be happier to just give up and drift away.

"I was just with her…her and Tony." Immediately Clint's head shot up from its resting position against the wall and he turned to face Steve, like an excited puppy his ears practically raised at the mention of Natasha.

"Was she ok? Was she hurt? Does she know where I am? Is Tony alright?" Clint rambled his voice raising as he spoke,

"Hold on! They were…well honestly they weren't doing that well. Tony's been shot in the stomach and Natasha in the leg, they're both a bit banged up in general but Natasha's been water boarded and electrocuted, I, I don't know how long they're going to last." Clint's ears fell and he pushed his head back onto the wall.

"Shit." He muttered, silence fell on the pair, it wasn't uncomfortable but it wasn't enjoyable either. "Hey, Steve…are we going to be ok? As in, are you going to…umm…forgive me?" Steve thought for a moment, how could he blame Clint though? He was only looking out for the person that meant most to him, and it was _Natasha. _Steve often thought of Natasha as more than a sister, he never told anybody but he always felt a strong connection to her. Like…love. And he would willingly allow himself to be tortured even if it was by a fellow team member if it insured Natasha's safety. Of course, no-one knew about these thoughts but Steve had seen Ivan and Red Skull watching him, so he prayed silently that they didn't see the longing looks he gave her…because if they did, he knew she would not last another day, and neither would he.

"Of course we are Clint, you look out for her ok? No matter what." Steve's voice was soft and he saw Clint nod in response, the silence growing kinder as the seconds ticked by, both men tried to ignore the blood trickling down from Clint's hand and dribbling on to Steve's. Marking the grey stone floor and deep red.

_**I promised I would give a shout out to 'The Backwaters" by Meercatwhisperer112, it is an amazing story seriously guys you will die from feels. **_

_**As I said above please review it means so much to me and I really want this story at 200 reviews. **_

_**Sending out hugs to you all! **_

_**- KCAW **_


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